REd InK to BLaCk InK
by Ovan-Rebirth
Summary: When progress is made, often the result is someone else's failure. As a writer for the ever looming Aiken Schwindel Newspaper, Kenshin benefited from the downfall of others. From power came blindness, and from blindness came love. AU KK


A/N: My first fanfic! For now this is a one shot but if the peeps like it, I shall reveal more. Dedicated to Kensan1990, she helped me, heehee.

REd InK to BLaCk InK

This is the chronicle of man who ruined the lives of many in red ink. Now he pays for redemption as he the writer, as he the artist, is surrounded by black ink.

18 April, 2003

Rain…. In the mind of Kaoru Kamiya this feature of the Earth's atmospheric movement was a greeting from Hell. The twenty-one year old woman stares at the old metal framed window, rain continues to drip in through the small seamless cracks. Placing a periwinkle towel over the water spot on the window sill the young lady grabs one of the many Home Depot cardboard boxes spread about the room. Written on the side of the box in a very childish print the words "Plates and Stuff" are printed.

With are large a sigh Kaoru pouts, "Damn, when is the rain going to end!"

As the woman turns around in her tank top and short pair of jeans, she peers over to her old SONY 20' inch tube. On the fuzzy screen a weatherman reports the same forecast over and over for the next five days. Rain. Angry at the both the television and the weather man, Larry Handly. Kaoru storms over toward the television striking the top of it. The screen goes blank as the bunny ears fall off onto the floor. Lifting her hard hand from the tube, a rather large dent appears from her deed. Turning around she stares about her cramped family room. Kaoru turns the switch above the television's single speaker to lift the same cardboard box from before. Carrying the box over to a tower of other boxes, the woman's spine shivers as the smell of smoke becomes prominent throughout her apartment. The whistle of a teapot also screams in the vicinity of the apartment as well.

"Shit!"

Kaoru releases her hands from the box marked "Plates and Stuff" to attend to her burning platter in the kitchen. As she runs toward the wooden corridor, the sound of plates and glasses crash behind the irritated woman. Tilting her head she notices fragments of glass and fine china scattered about the cardboard box.

"Misao!" yells the older sister.

A few hours later, the two sisters Kaoru and Misao try to enjoy their somewhat unusual lunch. Kaoru lifts her newly glued teacup to sip some tea. She stares at Misao who is not touching her newly glued bowl of macaroni.

"Eat it…"

Misao grabs her fork and places it in the scorched macaroni. With a gulp, she lifts the fork up, trying to eat a small portion of Kaoru's fine cooking. The fork stuck in the macaroni carries with it the glob of noodles and the bowl.

Swinging it around Misao gripes, "And how am I supposed to eat this crap?"

"It is not crap! If you'd at least try my cooking you would…"

Misao cuts in, "It sure does look like crap, and its shape…"

"Would you shut up already!"

Misao quickly stops twirling her bowl around. As a result, the bowl flies off the bowl shape mold of macaroni. The bowl collides with the kitchen window breaking the glass. The fragments of the bowl spill into the kitchen sink, which sits right below the window sill. A silence between the two sisters occurs for about a moments notice. Looking back at Kaoru, Misao's chair scoots back as Misao flees from the kitchen.

The younger sister sprints toward the apartment door. Quickly slipping on a pair of black Nike flip-flops, the girl turns the deadbolt lock and thrusts the door open. Running out onto the walkway the younger sister heads for the stairwell. Past the vending machines, the girl scrambles down the stairway. On the way down, her left foot slips on a cold moist step. Falling straight forward a stranger catches her from her horrifying descent. The brown haired man, with his carry-out plastic bags catches the young woman by the waist carefully setting her down on a step.

"Hey there missy, what's the hurry…", speaks the stranger.

"I don't need help from a rooster head!"

Shoving the poor man to the side, Misao continues to head down the stairwell. Holding onto the grocery bags tightly the rooster haired man shouts down the stairway.

"Rooster head?"

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Shrugging off the accident, the mysterious man continues his ascent up until he reaches the fourth floor. The man walks out of the stairwell on to the walk way. For an apartment complex this was the worst floors of them all. Trash and old newspapers lined the hallways of this floor. Leaves from the previous autumn scatter the dirty ground as well. This level the fourth level was the shady floor. Thieves, murderers, sex offenders, and any other type outlaw lived on this part of the complex. Every other floor was pleasant and peaceful. Every, if not most normal people would stay away from this level.

The man strolls through the garbage to stop at apartment 407. Rooster head knocks on the door twice before entering the dark room. Inside papers among newspapers lay about the room.

Holding the goods, the brown haired man shouts, "Hey Kenshin!"

There sitting in an old recline chair the man named Kenshin Himura sits waiting for his daily visitor. The red haired mans lips are dry, and his hair covers the top of his face. Kenshin turns his head over toward the visitor. At the same time he removes a pair of ear pieces from his ear.

"You know Sano, you don't have to yell so loud, that you don't. I can hear you just fine with my…."

"I know, I know. I've got a real treat for you today. Care to guess?"

"Beef flavored ramen", Kenshin says dolefully.

"Yep but I brought something else…"

Kenshin interrupts, "Chocolate pudding?"

"Man, you take the fun out of living Ken, you know that?" Sanosuke says as he tries to walk through the dingy apartment. On his way toward Kenshin's recliner he stumbles, knocking over a pile of old untouched newspapers. As the papers slide across the floor, Sano seizes to look at the main article.

"HIMURA CAUGHT IN…."

"Sano? What pile of papers fell this time?"

"Ugh… Just some old bills, nothing much, just a second."

Setting Kenshin's food down on the disordered carpet, Sano scrambles down toward the pile of newspapers. Sanosuke grabs a single paper and crams one of them into the side of his pants. Setting the pile back to the way it was, Sano gets up and hands Kenshin his meal.

As Kenshin begins to eat Sano finds the couch littered with even more papers. Landing backward into the couch, Sano spreads his arms, and props his feet up on the table. Looking around Sano notices that there are no picture frames of any family anywhere in the room. Not that Kenshin could see them, it just struck him odd. Sanosuke began to analyze his friend a little more. For the past three years he had know Kenshin. The first when Kenshin was still working for "The Aiken Schwindel", the major newspaper company of these parts. And the last two when Kenshin left the company and no longer traveled from his apartment. It was none of Sanosuke's business of why Kenshin left his job, or why the writer had become a depressed loaf. Kenshin was a friend one who had helped him out of his problems. He figured Kenshin would eventually snap out of it, but over the coarse of two years nothing had changed in the mans goals or interests.

"Sano?" Kenshin spoke.

Snapping out of his train of thought Sanosuke was startled, "What?"

"I'm finished," Kenshin stated as he pointed down toward his empty Styrofoam

bowl.

"Yeah I guess so," lifting himself out of lumpy sofa. Walking toward Kenshin Sanosuke still was thinking about his friend.

"You're quiet today, that you are Sano. Usually you have a whole mouth full of words to tell me. Something a matter?" the red head stated.

Taking Ken's dishes to the waste bin Sano replied unwillingly, "No, just nothing to chat about today."

Returning back to the main room Sanosuke hands Kenshin his usual pad of paper and his Papermate blue ink pen.

"Here, I can't stay long today, I've got to get back to work or Megumi will have my head again. See ya Kenshin," Closing the door behind him, Sanosuke leans back slouching.

Removing the newspaper from his right side he flattens it out by giving the paper a quick tug. Looking at the top he could see the "The Aiken Schwindel" logo pasted up top. Sano's brown eyes slowly moved down to see the answer, no the truth behind Kenshin's leave.

"HIMURA CAUGHT IN ILLEGAL FRAUD"

Sano stares at the article, which accuses his friend of robbing the paper to sabotage of its production. Thinking to himself Sanosuke cannot believe the print. Not normally a reader of The Aiken Schwindel paper, Sano distrusts the malevolent article from ever being printed. Unsure this copy he stuffs it back in-between him and his pants and begins the decline down the apartment complex's steps.

Walking down the stairwell and on to the street Sano looks at the time. Five minutes to one o'clock. Thinking to himself, "Damn Megumi will really have my neck this time!" Shrugging the thought off, Sano runs in the rain toward a moving trolley grabbing on to the handle of the car.

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Riding down six or seven blocks, the brown haired man enters the doors of the Aiken Public Library. Entering the building, Sanosuke is glad to get out of the rain but the smell of paper and moldy paper consumes Sano's body. Giving a shiver and sticking out his tongue a little, the brave man enters and approaches the front desk. Sitting in front of a computer monitor a large man with black hair stares interested to the contents on the large screen. Giving a slight chuckle, he is interrupted by Sanosuke's shadow leaning over the counter.

"May I help you?" The librarian says with an attitude.

"Yeah as a matter in fact I'm looking for the old newspaper prints; do you know where I can find them?" Sano asks politely.

The librarian lifts his hand and points over to one side of the library where the children's section is located, "Over there, now go."

Turning his head, Sano finds the librarian's answer not pleasing. Children in the area run wild as the trip over bean-bags and other chairs for small kids.

"Ummm, I don't believe that the section I'm looking for, Ms. Sanjō Tsubame"

The man at the counter bats an eye toward Sano, "Do I look like a freakin' chick?

"No," says Sano. "But that's what the nametag says, and I'm not here to judge peoples appearances." Sano points to the name card on the desk in front of the librarian's computer monitor.

The large man stands up a few inches over the brown haired man, "Listen here rooster head. First I am of masculine gender of the homosapiens. And two, my name is Seijūrō Hiko the thirteenth, good day!"

Hiko plops himself back into his little blue chair and sticks his face back in front of the computer monitor. Smirking at what he sees, his right hand goes back to its usually clicking frenzy.

Irritated Sano whispers to himself, "Rooster head again?"

Enraged Sanosuke grabs the bulky monitor turning the screen back toward the line of people so that an old couple can see. Looking away in disgust the couple leaves the library. Hiko grabs the monitor back placing in to its usual spot. Looking toward the monitor the screen is blank, turning up to Sanosuke, he sees the power cable in his hands.

"I'm sorry, just I think my problem here is a little more important that looking up porn on a co-workers computer!" Sano shouts. Hiko, now looking around at all the hundreds of faces staring at him, sulks in his chair and gives into Sano's request. Getting up he signals Sano to follow him toward the back of the library.

"You must have a good reason for coming back here to the newspaper section, not too many people use it anymore since everything they read from the magazine they believe. God, why am I surround with idiots who will believe anything!" Hiko proclaims, pointing to the wall of prints he says, "Here make yourself at home!"

Ignoring most of what the librarian had to say, Sano looks through the list of papers looking for the identical printing date. "February 4th 2001" The date this article was supposed to be printed. Find a match; he picks up the paper, surprised to find a different head line article.

"AKABEKO FAILS HEALTH INSPECTION TESTS"

Leaning over his shoulder the librarian notices the name "HIMURA" on Sanosuke's version of the paper. Looking at the separate pages he speaks, "Looks like you've found the truth, knock on wood."

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A/N: So, what really is "The Aiken Schwindel" Newspaper Company? Did you like? Please tell me I need peoples to like before I consider a second chapter. Thanks for reading!

(Note) If you didn't know, people in Japan try to avoid the number FOUR because it sounds like the word for DEATH, thus the reason the fourth floor of the apartment complex is a nasty lot.

Please Review! 'Ovan the Rebirth' logging off!


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